Nine die in Austrian avalanche

A rescue helicopter today reached a site high in the western Austrian Alps where nine German tourists were killed and nearly 40 other people were stranded by an avalanche triggered by a massive snow storm.

A local official, Gerhard Walter, said the helicopter managed to land near a rustic hostel 6,600 feet above sea level after two attempts failed because of poor visibility. On board was a doctor to treat a woman who was the only survivor among 10 Germans - six men and four women who were buried in the avalanche yesterday.

They were among nearly 50 tourists, guides and cabin attendants who were at the site when the storm struck. The injured woman was flown down the mountain to Galtuer. Officials planned to evacuate everyone by helicopter as soon as the weather improved.

The group of 10 off-piste skiers, who belonged to the German alpinist association, were touring at an altitude of 7,220 feet when they were caught by the massive snowfall. The surviving woman was taken to a nearby hut where over 30 skiers were sheltering from the bad weather after heeding avalanche warnings.

Rescue efforts were hampered by the high altitude and heavy snowfall in the area, some nine miles south of Galtuer, which can only be reached on foot or from the air. An earlier attempt to reach the group by helicopter failed because of bad weather.

Telephone contact with the hut in the Jam Valley was lost overnight as the solar-powered telephone system ran out of power. "We have no exact explanation how the accident occurred as we no longer have any contact with the hut," said rescue worker Stefan Beulke.

Galtuer was the scene of Austria's worst alpine disaster in decades last February when an avalanche ripped through the heart of the village, killing 31 people. In separate incidents in Austria yesterday, two skiers were killed and a third was seriously injured by an avalanche near the Tyrolean resort of Vent, while a snowboarder was buried by another avalanche in the Styrian resort of Murau.

Austria was blanketed by over 15 inches of snow on Tuesday as the weather front that has wreaked havoc in western Europe moved east. Around Europe, more than 100 people have died, many of them killed by fallen trees, collapsing buildings and in road accidents. France has been hit particularly hard, especially in the southwest. The death toll in France has reached at least 68.